Author: hannahmondo

It's that time of year to strive towards goals, and re-evaluate lifestyle choices. For me, I've been incorporating a lot of greens in my diet since I found out I was pregnant last year. Please note, I am not one of those hipster millennials who love kale. I didn't get what the fuss was about. It's tough, it can be bitter, and has a rather prickly texture raw.
Until I created THIS - Crispy Garbanzo Beans & Kale! Then, my world changed.

Attending a cookie exchange? Hosting a holiday party? Need a little something for the neighbors? This time of year, Christmas cookies are a necessity. So, I have ranked on a scale of easy to slightly more difficult - three of my favorite traditional Christmas Cookie recipes.

Only SEVEN days until Thanksgiving! Are you ready?? Well, if you aren't, I've got a few great recipes coming up just for you. Or, if you realized that your Thanksgiving dinner plans are a little over-ambitious, I've also got your back with a few recipes that are simple, time-tested, and crowd approved.

Growing up, I always looked forward to visiting my grandparents on my dad’s side the Friday after Thanksgiving. We would play two hand touch football with all the cousins, enjoy a heartwarming time sharing our blessings, and of course, lots of Thanksgiving food.

Some of my fondest memories of comfort food revolves around when I would visit Nanny, who was my great-grandmother. She was 100% Polish, so there was always plenty of hearty, warm food around. When I think of her, I remember the huge volcano of mashed potatoes with TONS of butter, creamy beef stroganoff, and pierogis.

If you read last Friday's blog, you probably are realizing a theme. PUMPKIN. Since the last post was all about homemade recipes, which you can find here, I thought it would be great to give you a run down on my favorite pumpkin flavored products from Trader Joe's.

This blog is contains two recipes I have tried, and found either to be Great, Good, or Bad. With everyone sharing recipes on social media, I thought this would be a fun way to help you determine which recipes are actually worth your time.

Lately, I've been obsessed with a few items that just make life more flavorful - one of them being homemade popcorn. Sure microwave popcorn tastes good, but it usually makes my stomach feel awful after eating it. Also, microwave popcorn is full of additives that are unhealthy and in my humble opinion, affect the taste of the popcorn.

Make no mistake, it is very unsafe to hike in the full sun, in almost 90 degree weather without the proper amount of water. Our group had the proper amount, and we all ran out of water at the end of the hike, even though we packed more than we thought we would need.
This got me thinking, if beginners don't respect the dangers of hiking in such heat, maybe I should write a few quick tips on what you should do if you go hiking in the summer to get that cool Instagram picture. I know it seems like common sense to a lot of us, but it's important for those going on their first high intensity hike to respect nature and protect yourself so you can stay healthy.

This post is long over due. I saw the Wonder Woman movie on the Friday it debuted, but I was fearful of giving my readers spoilers. So, if you still haven't had a chance to see the movie and don't wish to be spoiled, please skip this post.